YUKIO NAITO / ATTORNEY

Ex-PUC chairman
helped modernize
telecom rules

Researcher Paul Scheuer
More obituaries

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By Lyn Danninger
ldanninger@starbulletin.com

Retired Honolulu attorney Yukio Naito, a former chairman of the state Public Utilities Commission known for his work helping rewrite the rules governing local telecommunications, died Jan. 2 in Kuakini Medical Center. He was 74.

After the landmark federal Telecommunications Act of 1996 opened the nation's phone monopolies to competition, it was Naito's job to revamp a decades-old monopoly system at the local level.

"I don't think there would have been very many other people who could have handled telecom regulation and set the rules for it," said Chuck Totto, a former executive director of the state Division of Consumer Advocacy. "He was a masterful person as a regulator because he could not only see the big picture but was also able to understand the particular nuts and bolts of regulation."

Totto said Naito was a man who was able to listen to multiple parties -- whether telecom companies, consumers or consultants -- all at once.

"He wasn't overwhelmed by the complexity of the industry," said Totto.

People in the industry also respected Naito.

"I think he was highly respected by people in the industry whether they agreed with the outcomes or not. All of us knew issues would be examined thoroughly and that he would determine what he thought was right and say so," Totto said.

Naito was born in Hilo.

He is survived by wife Alice, son Karl, daughter Ann K. Yuuki, sisters Tamako Yoshitake and Tsuyako Moriyama, three grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Private services.